Anyone know anything about 'shared ownership', specifically for RIBS? I am thinking of replacing my 6 year old 5.8 Mtr Ribcraft, but what I really want is too expensive. ie., Diesel inboard, lots of electronics etc., long distance offshore cruising RIB. (Even bigger & better than Phoenix of Portsmouth John! – also new!). If ,say 4 or 5 people got together and chipped in, say £10,000 - £15,000 each, we could commission a pretty good piece of kit. They do it with planes and even other boats, so…. Anyone interested?

Formal shared ownership is relatively common on canals and rivers, but I don't know of any schemes for RIBs. There are less formal groupings which may or may not work so well. The 'Yellow Tang' team seem to still be friends, despite the trials of having to replace their engine recently -- I'm sure Alan will be able to add some useful thoughts!

One drawback (in the UK at least) is the unreliability of the weather. Most shared ownership schemes allocate weeks to each member well in advance, which doesn't allow for spur of the moment "the weather looks good, let's take the boat out" activity.

Motor Boats Monthly ran features about private syndicates in the May 2001 issue.

Many thanks for your comments…. I take the point about the difference between the ‘canal boat’ style of shared ownership, (for holidays), and a RIB. Indeed, having just returned from a canal holiday on a rented narrow boat myself, it was the conversation I had with a ‘part owner’ of a narrow boat that got me thinking about a RIB version. With the canal boats however, the number of owners seems to be a minimum of 12. That’s why I am suggesting only 4 or so with a RIB, shared ownership. (That’s the way they do it with aeroplanes I believe). Obviously there may well be the odd date clash, but even when one owns a boat outright, I find I still don’t always get the chance to use it on a ‘good day’. Take the last couple of days for example. It’s been so calm and hot that according to the Press, even a Venetian Gondolier made it across the Channel! I however was busy on Sunday and unable to find a companion on Monday…. So my RIB sat in the front garden collecting dust! I think your idea, Alan, of friends getting together and using it together is the best. Perhaps one would have to choose ones co-buyers carefully and find something in common first! Anyway, if anyone thinks the idea is worth some thought, please let me know! You can e-mail me at mrcarson@lineone.net In the meantime, anyone fancy a trip in my RIB next time its hot and calm, short notice?

Mike I know exactly how you feel, after circumnavigating Britain in the comfort of a 9.5m Scorpion Cabin RIB, our 6.5m has less appeal than it did! All I need is to win the lottery.........

As John mentions, we own Yellow Tang our DS21 between three of us. Important difference I think to to arrangement that you are interested in was that we were (and continue to be!) friends before we bought a boat together. Ours is an informal arrangement with nothing written down but nevertheless a very clear understanding of how things operate.

The key difference between your idea and ours is that we generally go boating together so have little or no conflict about who uses the boat which weekend. Area's of conflict can be about spending money and time working on the boat but we have overcome these so far - including having to buy a new engine when the old one expired on us.

If you want further advice on how our partnership works please feel to mail me seperately: cruising@biboa.co.uk

In terms of your idea for shared ownership of a big diesel RIB I think the idea certainly has merit. In fact were my circumstances different (i.e. we had sold Yellow Tang rather than buying a new engine!) I would be very interested in joining you!

The Motor Boats Monthly article that John mentions was very good so it might be worth getting ahold of a copy.